NEW DELHI: A disconnect with constituents and strong anti-incumbency sentiments emerging in surveys carried out by the party have reportedly worked against four sitting BJP MPs in Delhi. The names of Ramesh Bidhuri (South Delhi), Meenakshi Lekhi (New Delhi), Parvesh Sahib Singh (West Delhi) and Dr Harsh Vardhan (Chandni Chowk) were missing from the first list of 195 candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha election released on Saturday.According to party insiders, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was also unhappy with a couple of MPs in Delhi and flagged concerns over their functioning. A senior Delhi BJP leader added that not just the Sangh, a section of state leaders and workers were upset too with their representatives because of inaccessibility and their anger was palpable in feedback. “The decision to deny tickets to incumbent MPs has not come as a complete surprise to many. In feedback collected by the party through various channels, resentment against was noticeable. A couple of them have been inaccessible throughout,” said a former officer bearer of Delhi BJP. Delhi has seven Lok Sabha seats. The BJP announced candidates for five Lok Sabha seats in the national capital and only Bhojpuri actor turned politician Manoj Tiwari has been retained from northeast Delhi seat.According to senior BJP functionaries in Delhi, the age factor has played a role in ticket denial to Vardhan but added that Covid mismanagement during the second wave of pandemic might be another reason. “Maybe, the top leadership has not forgiven him. He has been blamed for the scarcity of oxygen cylinders and hospital beds,” said a Delhi BJP leader.
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